RobynD39

:celebrate:I FINALLY got my RA licence today, including my cross country endorsement. It's been a long and frustrating process but worth the effort in the end. Thanks to Kev Walters and Jim Gollagher for the awesome training. And of course my husband Bob, who helped motivate me when the times got tough. Now I can hopefully start to have some fun.

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Thanks for the info. I pray the pilot recovers.

Anyone know any more details? I have flying friends up there. http://mypolice.qld.gov.au/bundaberg/2013/10/06/aviation-incident-bundaberg/

Hi all, Just noticed this documentary is on tonight on channel SBS 9:40pm Brisbane time in case anyone is interested. http://www.sbs.com.au/documentary/program/719/Spitfire-Women Enjoy.

Hi all. After being forced to hold off on my flying lessons (my last one was in September last year) I am now back on track to getting my RAA licence. Here's a video of my first solo in our RV9A at Bradfield (near Atkinson's Dam in QLD), followed by a couple more solo circuits at Watts Bridge (near Toogoolawah in QLD). I hope it inspires others who get stuck in their training to keep at it and be patient, as eventually the planets do line up. PS. Thanks to Bob, Jim and Kev for your help so far.

I feel your pain. I had to wait 9 months for my next lesson when I only had about 2 lessons left to do for various reasons. Started my lessons again last weekend. I finally did my first solo in our RV yesterday and all that past frustration has been forgotten. Just do your preparations and then distract yourself with other things until the planets align. Good luck with it all.

Thanks Planey. I have no idea who did the music. It was supplied as an option in SmileBox.

Thanks Greg. Yes Doug was there to pick us up and gave us a "tour" (including the names of every shrub and tree on the way to the resort). He was a real character and made us feel right at home. He also offered us the 4x4 but we weren't there long enough. We will definitely stay an extra night next time so we can do the ridge tour.

Hi all, Bob and I recently went on a 10-day trip in our RV9A from Watts Bridge (QLD) to Warrnambool (VIC), then on to Arkaroola (SA), then Coober Pedy (SA), then back to William Creek and Lake Ayre, then home via Cunnamulla. I have put together a few photos and videos for anyone who's interested. Hope you enjoy them. Robyn PS. We had originally planned to fly up to Ayres Rock (NT) as well but the weather wasn't good at the time. PPS. The best way to watch these videos, is go to full screen and pause the video. This way you can enlarge photos and watch any videos on the page. Then click the right arrow to go to the next page. Part 1 - Watts Bridge to Warrnambool (via Narromine to Deniliquin) (including sightseeing at Warrnambool and Port Fairy) At the start of the video, for those those that don’t know, to get out of SE QLD you have to climb over a mountain range. But because of Amberley AFB you have a height restriction that does not give you a lot of room. The day of departure there were clouds over the ranges and because of the restrictions we could not climb over, so had to fly along the ranges looking for a hole to get through. For a while we thought we were going to have to turn back. Part 2 - Warrnambool to Arkaroola (via Renmark) (including sightseeing at Arkaroola) At Arkaroola our room was nice enough. But then we pulled back the curtains and found heaps of spider webs (with some spiders) that the cleaners had missed. The rooms had been closed down for the off-season, and we were the first tourists of the new tourist season. We had chosen the cheaper rooms though so we couldn't complain. Part 3 - Arkaroola to Coober Pedy (including sightseeing at Coober Pedy) When we were flying into Coober Pedy we were wondering what the little white hills were. It wasn’t until we were on the ground we realised they were the tailings from the opal mines. Part 4 - William Creek, Lake Ayre and Thargomindah (including sightseeing at William Creek) William Creek is in the middle of nowhere! The old Ghan railway line from Adelaide up through the centre to Alice Springs, because of the old steam trains needing water in the dry outback, toured all over the place. William creek was one of the stops and the pub was built to service the passengers. When the new line was built (in a straight line) and the old line was closed down, William Creek was able to survive on tourists as it is the closest to Lake Ayre. Part 5 - Cunnamulla to Watts Bridge (via Goondiwindi) Goondiwindi had a card Avgas bowser that was not working and the fuel supplier wanted to charge us a call out fee of $100 (go figure???). We were told by some locals the bowser had not worked for a year or so.

Ian, I found your site to be a godsend during our trip outback last week. I can read most of the area briefing except for knowing what areas they are referring to. There is one bug that you might not know about. Sometimes we get the wrong time coming up. Eg, in todays briefing: Broken stratus 1000/3500 ft areas till pm am. For anyone still having trouble copying on an ipad, I found the easiest way is to highlight the first line (press and hold on the first word of the first line until the magnifier comes up, then touch and drag the bottom right adjuster across to the end of the line), then with the line highlighted, drag the bottom right adjuster across to the far right of the page. This should highlight the whole text on the page. Then copy and paste into pemet. Its well worth the effort once you work out how to do it. Cheers Robyn

Additional ... The survey doesn't let you ask for an electronic version of the Airield Directory but it does let you vote for an AOPA app. Maybe an app might include the Directory? I suppose I'm clutching at straws???

AOPA Australia have released a survey for feedback. This is a good opportunity to plead for an online or downloadable version of the National Airfield Directory. The US has an online version but I can't find an Aussie equivalent. Please go to http://aopa.com.au/information-centre/aopa-news/complete-our-aopa-survey-and-win/ so hopefully we can add the Directory to our EFB. Thanks, Robyn

Thanks Ian and good timing. We'll find it very useful for trip to Victoria this week ... If we don't get flooded in that is.

Yes it is, and Bob only has an RAA licence. Bob heard that it costs $600 to get approval from CASA to enter controlled airspace, though I'm not sure if there is a special provision for only going to the airshow. As I said, it all sounds too complicated.

The RV. I couldn't imagine flying the drifter all the way from QLD to VIC! I can't afford to take a whole month off work. ;-)

Sounds awesome. I've always wanted to see the Avalon airshow and to fly in instead of driving would be brilliant! :-)

Thanks everyone. I see now from the website we can fly in with permission from CASA. It all seems very complicated though. Patrick I'll get Bob to ring you if he is interested. Safe flying all!

Thanks HH but I thought Little River was in controlled airspace. That's why I thought we'd have to come in from the SW?

I saw that photo on facebook. Classic! I also saw a plane today at Caboolture with the rego VH-POM. I instantly thought of James May. :-)

Hi there. Bob and I are hoping to fly to Warrnambool later this month and then drive to the Avalon air show. But I'm wondering if we could fly up via Petersborough towards Geelong and maybe tie down at a strip close to a train or bus stop. I thought maybe Moriac or even Lethbridge if we sneak in from the south. Anyone know if this is possible? It's early days in my nav training so I'm not sure by looking at the charts how close we can get to Avalon. It looks like we can go all the way to Geelong but correct me if I'm wrong. Thanks, Robyn "Nav-noob"

Places I've been ... I've been in accessible but it's a hard place to get to. I've been in active but it's too easy to gain weight there. I've been in alterable but the people there thought I was stubborn. I've been in animate but everyone thought I was a statue! I've been in appropriate and got kicked out. I've been in articulate and nobody could understand a word I said! I've been in attentive and kept tripping. I've been in bound but never seemed to actually arrive. I've been in bred but we won't go there. :-)